The Zentradi are a militaristic race of giants and often the primary antagonist in the Macross and Robotech anime series'. It is transliterated as Zentradi, Zjentohlauedy, and Zentraedi for the Japanese Macross series, with the Zentraedi spelling being the one most used in the Robotech adaptation.

In Macross

The Zentradi were created as proxy warriors by the first civilization in the galaxy, Protoculture. As war broke out with the Supervision Army, the Zentradi entered into combat with their fearsomely powerful force of warships and legions of expendable clone troops. After the end of the war with the Supervision Army, Zentradi travelled the galaxy in search of Supervision Army survivors until they encountered the human race in the First Space War (2009-2012).

In order to better maintain control of the Zentradi, the Protoculture trained them only in the limited mix of skills which were necessary for the soldier's particular role in the Zentradi military. The Zentradi were also segregated so that males and females could not mix, which might lead to love and or natural procreation.

The downfall of the Zentradi warrior culture came in Space War I, where the materially inferior but spiritually superior "Miclones" (humans) were able to reach the buried emotions of the Zentradi through their actions, especially music and acts of love and kindness.

After 2012, the Zentradi are estimated to have 1000-2000 fleets of sizes similar to the 4.8-million-ship Boddole Zer Main Fleet in Space War I. However, United Nations government of allied Humans and Zentradi became the reigning hegemon in near-Earth galactic space.

In Robotech

The history of the Zentraedi is different in Robotech. In Robotech, the Zentraedi were created as slave clones to the Robotech Masters, to be the perfect miners and later the perfect warriors. The micronization process was created to shrink down the Zentraedi to fit into small mine shafts, while their giant size was intended to keep them from going anywhere the Robotech Masters didn't want them to go. When the Masters used the Tirolean biotechnician Zor's discovery of protoculture (which led naturally to Robotechnology) to defoliate the Invid homeworld of Optera, stirring the normally-placid Invid to war, they turned their miner slaves into warriors, building weapons, mecha and warships properly scaled to the giants. To control them, the Robotech Masters psychologially impaired them by orienting nearly the entire population to the sole purpose of war to the exclusion of all else. They had no arts, no learning beyond what was directly related to war; even sophisticated medical and technical skills were denied which restricted any advanced task with these skills to the automatic functions at special bases built by the Masters. In addition, the sexes were strictly segregated to minimize the chance of sexual reproduction which could profoundly alter the worldview of the race. To that end, the population was indoctrinated to view any sexual activity disgusting and dangerous.

The Zentraedi under Admiral Breetai discovered their tragic origins in 2012 (two years before the destruction of the SDF-1 and the death of Khyron) and swore eternal enmity to their former masters; Zentraedi soldiers and spacers formed a major portion of the fleet contingent of the Robotech Expeditionary Force.

Notable Zentraedi:

Vrlitwhai/Breetai Kridanik | Exedol/Exedore | Kamujin/Khyron the Backstabber | Milia Fallinya Jenius/Miriya Parina Sterling

Notable Zentraedi-Human Hybrids:

Komilia Maria Fallinya Jenius/Dana Sterling | Guld Goa Bowman | Mylene Flare Jenius